On Second Look: Saw III

First Impression:
Like Saw II, Saw III managed to once again up the ante from a plot twist standpoint. The final twist of Saw III is probably the best of the entire series. It really is a bunch of small twists tied together and revealed almost all at once. It blew me away.
On the other hand, I was absolutely stunned at the amount of gore and the nastiness of some of the traps. The movies are all called Saw, but this one was the first I really had to look away (or almost look away) from the screen. My main problem with this film was the main Jigsaw subject. I didn't like the guy. And I should have. Because we are supposed to be feeling his pain as he struggles to deal with personal tragedy and play Jigsaw's game. Instead, the guy got on my nerves. This blunted the movies impact and kept me from liking it as much as Saw II.


Now:
On second look, the increase in gore stands out even more greatly than when first viewed. It's almost ridiculous. I've heard Saw referred to as torture porn. I think this movie may have come closest to earning that title. On second look, I did look away from a few moments in the film, because I actually don't like gore. I still didn't like Jigsaw's main subject, but that didn't affect my enjoyment of the film as much.

My main problem with Saw III is the epilogue to Saw II that is tacked onto the beginning of this film along with a slow start to Saw III's story. The epilogue itself was cool, and needed, as Saw II's ending left us hanging a bit (as did the original Saw; both are rectified partially in Saw III). But it contributes to Saw III taking a while to get going. Act II being a mixed bag hurts after such a slow start.

Also, the flashbacks are back, but in a reasonable quantity.

On second look, the wild ending (which was set up well by the rest of the film) makes the movie.

Grade: B-